Digital natives, who post, snap and tweet to their hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers — who then rush out and buy the products that these Influencers recommend. Women (and men) no longer look to fashion and beauty magazines for inspiration and ideas. In today’s digital age, those titles — and their editors — are quickly becoming a thing of the past, not only to consumers (latest casualty, Teen Vogue) but to brands themselves, who are now relying on these ‘brand ambassadors’ who are disrupting and replacing advertising and marketing ‘agencies’.

So why not celebrate these fashion and beauty influencers!

Well on Nov. 2, Revolve, the trendy mega-retailer who collaborates and works with Influencers daily, has hosted its first ever Revolve Awards Show. Revolve has successfully built its business on influencer marketing and are now celebrating and awarding their partners. It was a fun-filled and fashionably bold night.

The glamourous evening took place at Hollywood’s Dream Hotel and was hosted by E!’s Terrence Jenkins. Attendees ranged from Chrissy Teigen, and Nicole Richie to Hailey Baldwin and plenty of Instagram stars. The ceremony focused on influencer-centric categories – such as, YouTube Channel of the Year, Best Influencer Brand, BFFs of the Year, Best Beauty Influencer, Brand of the Year, #COUPLEGOALS of the Year and Influencer of the Year. Half of the winners were chosen by a trusted panel of industry experts and fans had the opportunity to cast their votes as well.

Chrissy Teigen (Photo courtesy of Revolve)

Revolve, a multi-brand online shopping retailer based in Los Angeles, was one of the first to identify bloggers as the new voice of fashion. Bloggers, Vloggers, Influencers and Insta-stars, have the ability to catapult a fashion or beauty label to the masses. These fashion crusaders have gained the trust of their audience base because they speak and dress in a way that most young women aspire and can relate and to, in contrast to traditional global fashion scene which is often perceived as intimidating and snobby. “We’ve been blogger -believers since 2009,” Revolve Chief Brand Officer, Raissa Gerona, said at the brunch. “They speak to our customers in a really authentic way that’s really meaningful,” co-founder and co-CEO Michael Mente told Fashionista.Com.

“We’re millennials too, so we automatically got it,” Gerona told Fashionista.com of the blogger boom. “Instead of being like, why are you writing about your outfit? It’s like, cool, you’re telling me what you’re wearing on your blog! I feel like I can get someone else’s perspective that I can trust. It’s not like Anna Wintour, who I’m never ever going to meet, you know?” It’s the difference between being talked down to – and talking with your friends.

On an earlier Instagram post (prior to the event), Revolve stated “We are nominating and honoring the best in the biz, our Influencers, our top selling brands and our ambassadors, for whom we wouldn’t be here without. And you, our followers and customers, are the core of everything we’ve achieved and hustle for. Thank you everyone who’s ever believed in us and supported us from the beginning.”

And the investment in Influencers is paying off. According to an article published by WWD in October, Revolve in on track to do over $1 billion in sales this year, attributing 70 percent of that sum to the might of the e-tailer’s influencers, a global network of 5,000 content creators.

Revolve’s Influencer of the Year, was the biggest award of the night and of course, the catagorie was filled with a talented and beautiful range of eight nominees: Aimee Song, Chiara Ferragni, Camila Coelho, Negin Mirsalehi, Rocky Barnes, Julie Sariñana, Tash Oakley, and Arielle Charnas. But of course, there can only be one winner. So the ultra-stylish Negin Mirsalehi took home the prize. The trend-setter called her boyfriend Maurits Stibbe to the stage to help her accept the award, and they were adorable. According to Negin Mirsalehi in an interview with Fashionista.Com, “They were the first ones to understand from the Influencer’s perspective. They see that Influencers are more than just people who take pictures all the time,”noting the company’s willingness to collaborate and brainstorm with Influencers to create maximum benefit for both parties. Currently Mirsalehi has 206K views on YouTube and 4.3M followers on Instagram. Now that’s a massive ‘influence’, don’t you think?

Below is a list of the Revolve Award Winners:

Influencer of the Year: Negin Mirsalehi

Best Beauty Influencer: Jenn Im

YouTube Channel of the Year: Camila Coelho

BFFs of the Year: Aimee Song & Camila Coelho

#CoupleGoals of the Year: Negin Mirsalehi & Maurits Stibbe

Best Influencer Brand: Shop Sincerely Jules by Julie Sariñana

Brand of the Year: For Love & Lemons

Best Activewear Brand: Alo Yoga

Best Beauty Brand: Ouai

Best Swimwear Brand: Beach Riot

Innovator of the Year: Eva Chen

Artist of the Year: Rae Sremmurd

Icon of the Year: Nicole Richie

Woman of the Year: Chrissy Teigen

Muse of the Year: Shay Mitchell

Whether you follow these influencers religiously, or you find them to be self-promoting, label-whoring, fame-seeking pretty young things, it is undeniable that Revolve has distinguished itself with a powerful marketing tactic that is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the fashion industry. Many Influencers even have their own hashtags, such as Chiara Ferragni’s famous #TheBlondSaladGoesTo…. Love it or hate it, the fashion industry needs to pay attention to these teens and young adults, for the rise of social media is just the beginning.

Ah, the Met Ball—an event that has been called the Oscars of fashion. While some see this as a night to marvel at who-will-be-wearing-what-and-who, those of us with a passion for design and construction are on the edges of our seats waiting to see the featured honoree’s work up close. Read More

Following Chris Rock’s hosting brilliance, Lady Gaga’s moving performance and Leo’s it’s-about-time Oscar win, we are experiencing a bit of an awards season hangover. There were very few trends on this year’s Oscar red carpet as we saw everything from pastels to jewel tones, delicate lace to full-of-fabric confections. With so much information to process, we decided to take a bit of a backseat from the “Who wore it best?” hoopla, and offer up some interesting red carpet dressing facts we’ve learned from recent read, Hijacking the Runway by Teri Agins.

From pastels…

First, did you know that the Oscars are seen by 43 million worldwide? No wonder designers are eager to dress celebrities – just imagine the number of photographs, tweets and posts that float around in the days (even months) following an awards show – with the designer’s name attached! But, an important question to ask as an emerging designer is where will widespread press lead you and your budding company? Will your fledgling business be able to accommodate immediate requests? And ultimately, is the cost worth the “reward?”

…to jewel tones.

If you are an emerging designer who is seeking this type of widespread press, consider the cost. According to Agins, fashion houses offer not only gowns to celebrities, but also hair and make up, limo rides to the big event and other perks that can cost upwards of $60,000 to $100,000 per event! Contracts including confidentiality agreements are often drawn up between celebrities and their handlers (stylists, publicists, managers, etc.) and fashion houses to keep under wraps these expensive exchanges.

Some celebrities receive up to 50 gowns from various designers to choose from for the big night. Rarely do celebrities keep (or purchase) the gowns that make the final cut.

…to full-of-fabric confections.

As an emerging designer, the lure of celebrity endorsement and press can be very enticing. However, it is important to think as an emerging business person as well when representing your line. Whether a local celebrity requests one of your garments for an event, or Rooney Mara’s stylist must have one of your gowns for next year’s Academy Awards, keep your feet on the ground when hashing out the details. Remember, you created your unique piece down to the very last French dart (which by the way, shameless plug, is our latest video release). Honor the value of your work, as an example for others to do so as well.

Awards season is right around the corner in addition to red carpet gowns and inspiration galore. This year, as you select your best and worst dressed lists, we have an added challenge. Be on the lookout for construction details. This week we’ve launched an extension video to our video on Draping a Bustier Bodice. Take a look at the images in the header – whether it’s Allison Williams in Armani Privé or Halle Berry in Nina Ricci – what you see on the red carpet is the result intricate construction underneath.

The draw of the red carpet is real. Like many of you, we were glued to our TVs, live streams and Twitter accounts to get a first glimpse of what stars of television and screen were wearing to the Golden Globes last night. However, in contrast to many viewers, we were watching with a designer’s eye as we searched for new and innovative draping and embellishment techniques. We looked for fit and fabric, necklines and hemlines and immaculate finishings. When stars were asked the question, “Who are you wearing?” we waited with bated breath to see if our predictions were correct. Our hits and misses follow. Read More